Find your peace and truth beyond konspiracy
1. Nowhere To Go
2. How He Came To The Big City
3. World Filled With Peasants
4. Your Neighbor Is Your Enemy
5. ’Be Kind To Strangers’ Is Not Just An Anecdote
6. One Can Never Know Who Can Be Trusted
7. But He Still Had Friends and Family
8. Bitter Lessons To Be Learned
9. Faith Restored Or He Was Cursed?
1. Nowhere To Go
The man came back to his hotel, went to the front desk and asked for the key to his room; he had been staying here for the last three weeks. The desk clerk declined his request and told him that he had not paid for the night yet. He was taken aback, but as he searched his memory, he realized that he had not done so indeed. He went out and looked for a nearby ATM machine; he thought that he could just withdraw cash from his bank account, go back to the front desk and pay for tonight and the next several days. He appreciated that he lived in the twenty first century and was in a modernized city; he could just go to a machine, punch a few keys and get cash. How wonderful! He couldn’t use credit cards though, because this was one of those budget hotels that only took cash. He walked for a couple of blocks and found an ATM machine; he tried to make a withdrawal, but he couldn’t. He assumed that there was something wrong with the machine and walked another couple of blocks to find a different one. He tried again but he couldn’t get any cash there, either. He then realized that he did not have any money left in his bank account; he totally miscalculated the budget and ran out of the money. It was cold outside and he was at a loss all of a sudden. Living in the technologically advanced century was irrelevant.
He was not the richest man in the world obviously, but up until half an hour ago, he felt that the world was at his feet. He just moved to the big city a month ago. He was already offered a job and was about to start working in a couple of weeks; the starting salary was not bad, and after two months of review, he was promised to get a raise. He felt he had it all. The city was waiting for his arrival and he was here. He was moving up the ladder and reached the center of the world. But now, he was essentially thrown out to the street. What was he going to do now? Was he going to stay the night on the street? Possible, but not such a great idea. Even if he could get by tonight like that, then what? This was his reality check. He had to think through and decide what to do next. Difficulties like this tested him and taught him new lessons and they even helped him to acquire new skills, though this was not exactly how he looked at the present situation. Was this situation going to be yet another difficulty he faced in his life? The question he needed to answer immediately was how he’d secure the place to stay the night. The bigger question was how to spend the next several days while he had no money with him. After he got through this, was he going to be a little more intelligent, tactful and street smart? Yes, that was how this was going to turn to be but there would be more. He did not know yet, but this was going to be a rather significant event of his life; this was going to have a profound impact on his life.
2. How He Came To The Big City
Right after he got his Bachelor degree, he found a job in the small town where he went to the university. This was a reputable university in the country though not the most well known. Many would assert that graduates had fine education; it was a diploma to be proud of if he had it hanged on the wall in his office. He did not get his first full time job at one of those multi-national corporations, but he could say that it was a real job; he was acquiring skills to become a working professional. He would belong to the class of doctors, lawyers, engineers and scholars in some years. That was where he was. A year after he started working full-time, he was offered a job in the big city; he took it right away and moved to the city. He felt that the world was at his feet. It would have been ideal if he could find a flat before he moved there, but he couldn’t, so he just moved there with his suitcase and a backpack. This was not the first time he did something like this, so he did not think that it was such a big deal. As he reached the big city, he looked up a newspaper, found a hotel and checked-in. He figured that he’d take care of what he needed to take care of like finding a flat, moving in, buying furniture, opening a new bank account and such in the coming weeks.
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He wandered around but he could not figure out what to do. He then realized that he was hungry and a little tired. He decided to stop at a restaurant, sit, eat and think. There was a restaurant that he frequented for the last three weeks and that was where he went. As he entered, a waiter came to take his order. Both were acquainted since they saw each other a number of times already; in fact, they saw each other almost everyday for the last three weeks. He just ordered some noodle. He did not have enough money to pay for the hotel but he did have enough money to pay for the meal. While he waited, he thought about what to do next.
3. World Filled With Peasants
He firmly believed that the world was filled with peasants; they were totally useless and the world would better off without them. They were absolutely incompetent; just to clean dishes, they needed to be told how to do that. They needed to be told how to sweep the floor in order to do that; they didn’t even know how to do this simple task. Absolutely no desire to better themselves or others; they would just sit and do nothing if they could do that without starving themselves to death. Learning how to wait for tables, becoming a waiter or a waitress was some sort of miracle to them. How could the world have so many incompetent, incapable and useless peasants? Why should they exist at all? Whenever he read news like farmers’ being swept away in flood, he did not think much about it; sometimes, he felt that it was all good for reducing the expendable population, and other times, he wondered why more of the expendable weren’t being reduced. This was his persuasion and he believed that the world was full of the useless UNTIL today.
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He spoke to his waiter, one of peasants supposedly, in order to seek help. If the waiter were a peasant, then who would he be? Less than a peasant? He could not find an answer to the question, but he knew that he needed to seek help from his new friend. As he ate dinner, sat and contemplated, he realized that he needed to borrow some money. Staying a night on the street was unwise; he had too many things with him. They could be packed in a suitcase and a backpack after all, but his possession was large enough so that it could catch unwanted attention. He also had to move around with the big suitcase and the heavy backpack for the next couple of days at least; it would be extremely difficult, if not, impossible. He also had to be in a place where he could be reached if anyone wanted to get in touch with him; in fact, he needed to get in touch with a few people. He was looking for a flat and he contacted several landlords; they needed to get in touch with him if they decided to rent a flat. He also needed to be in touch with his new employer; in fact, he was going to get a relocation fee from him. Now that he was out of cash, the relocation fee would be essential. Also he needed to seek financial help from his friends and family members later on because, even if, he managed to borrow money at this restaurant, it was unlikely that he could borrow enough to get by for the next couple of weeks; he could only borrow enough to get by for the next several days at best. They needed to get in touch with him in some way as well. Staying on the street would make things more difficult and complex than necessary. Besides, he had to realize that he was not one of those who could stay homeless for days comfortably; neither he grew up like that, nor did he ever let him face such a difficulty in his life before. He had to have a realistic expectation on what he could do and what he couldn’t do. Being tough, staying on the street for the next several days or a couple of weeks and then getting back to the normalcy was not something he could do; he was incapable of doing such thing. Borrowing money to get by for the next couple of days and figuring out how to get back to the normalcy, probably by borrowing some money from a couple of other people, was something he could handle.
4. Your Neighbor Is Your Enemy
You hope that most people, if not, all of them, try their best to get along with their neighbors. It is a logical thing to do because peace is a critical element of quality life. It is completely irrational to deny that. However, if you study history, you find irrationality everywhere. England and Scotland were not great neighbors historically speaking. Countries in the continental Europe such as France, Germany, Spain and Italy fought many wars. China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan have the bitter history as well. Even a relatively young country like U.S. had conflicts with its neighbor, Mexico. Relationship between India and Pakistan is another example. Consequently, if you find a man or a woman whose origin is a neighboring country of the country of your origin, you would feel hostile to him/her or you would have to suspect that he could be hostile to you; this is not about being prejudice but about being realistic.
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The waiter was a young man from a neighboring country of the country of his origin, and so was the owner of the restaurant. He knew this because of the cuisine served and the appearance and accent of people working there. Over the years, he learned to become less prejudicial; he realized his ignorance and he persuaded him that he ought to have a different perspective on people. However, he was not reborn to become a different man. He could not help being slightly prejudicial and discriminatory. He also had to suspect that the restaurant owner could be hostile to him based on his personal experience. But the irony here was that this was the place he had to seek help. He could walk into a different restaurant, but they didn’t even recognize his face, so chances of borrowing money there were slim. He could try to get in touch with his new employer and try to get the relocation fee tonight, but it was unwise; it wouldn’t be a good way to start his employment assuming that the employer wouldn’t change his mind. He couldn’t risk his future employment. It had to be here, this restaurant, if he were to borrow any money to get by for the next couple of days.
5. ’Be Kind To Strangers’ Is Not Just An Anecdote
’Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt’ - Exodus 22:21
Many religions tell faithful followers to be kind to strangers, but if you have some sense, you do not always expect kindness from strangers. If you are an atheist, you still have a set of rules that you follow and you would not typically lend your hands to strangers indiscriminately. If a stranger who smells so horribly approaches you, would you not avoid him/her? If a stranger looks like a gangster and asks you to lend some money, would you feel comfortable? Do you assume that all strangers approaching you on streets and asking help are genuinely in need of your assistance or you assume that many of them, if not, all of them, are conning you? Most parents tell their children to walk away from strangers if they are approached. Many adults would be cautious if strangers talk to them. Understandable reality, and it makes you to think that ’be kind to strangers’ is just an anecdote. A number of quotes to teach the idea are found in the Bible. Qur’an shares a good part of the bible, so it is probably fair to guess that it teaches the same idea as well. Hinduism, Buddhism and all other religions probably share the same idea. Most of atheists probably believe that, in principle, they should be kind to strangers. But does it reflect the reality at all? None whatsoever.
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He first asked the waiter to see if he could borrow money from him. He explained his situation and told him that this was an emergency. He told him that he moved to the city only three weeks ago. He would soon start working and earning a good salary and he would also find a reasonable flat in the coming weeks and settle down. It was just that he miscalculated his budget and he found himself short of cash. The waiter told him that he would help him if he could, but he was short of cash. He understood; he then asked the waiter to see if he could speak to his employer, the restaurant’s owner to ask the same thing. The waiter hesitated first, but he let him speak to the owner.
The restaurant owner initially told him that she could not lend any money because he was a total stranger and there was no guarantee that he would pay it back. He understood that; there were enough cheats, liars and con artists already in the city. But he realized that he could at least prove his identity by showing his passport. He also realized that he could let her have it as a token of guarantee, which was exactly what he did. He took out his passport and handed it to the lady and asked if she could give him a small short-term emergency loan; he’d get the passport back when he paid it back. She agreed and lent him enough to get by for the next week. Meanwhile, he would make further arrangements to borrow a necessary amount temporarily to pay back the money borrowed from the restaurant owner and pay back all debts once he started receiving salaries.
He thanked her and left the restaurant. He walked back to the hotel, went straight to the front desk and paid for his room for the week. Then, he was shown his belongings packed in a large garbage back; the hotel apparently made the arrangement to throw him out if he couldn’t make the necessary arrangement in a day or two. It didn’t happen since he was able to pay for the room. He went back to his room and crushed in bed.
6. One Can Never Know Who Can Be Trusted
In this world, one never knows who can be trusted. ‘Friend’ is not exactly a word that automatically implies trust and loyalty. ‘Friend’ can by lying, cheating, stealing or all of the above. Having a ‘friend’ does not guarantee anything; it can even be used to manipulate you. ‘Family’ is yet another word that does not automatically imply trust, safety or loyalty. It is not uncommon that a man sells his wife, sisters and children in order to spend another idle day. If a family does not have the sufficient to survive, cannibalism within the family can be observed, if not literally, figuratively. If a family has lot more than the sufficient, it creates a great conflict in order to divide that wealth. You do not know who can be trusted, and thus, the premise should be that any stranger you meet can be waiting for the right moment to cut your throat, suck your blood and eat you flesh.
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His whole world went upside down. It was true that he let the restaurant owner have his passport to prove his identify and necessitate him to pay back the loan. But, after all, she was a total stranger and she helped me for virtually no return.
7. But He Still Had Friends and Family
He was basically in the state of panic for the last several hours. He would still be in a difficult situation for the next several days. But in this situation, he would learn that he did have friends that he could count on. His premise was that words such as ‘Friend’ and ‘Family’ did not mean much, but he’d learn that they did. This sounded cliché but it was indeed a fact. He would also learn that he was still not independent enough, nor was he strong enough. He needed friends and family to move forward; this was more like an affirmation rather than revelation though.
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The day after he borrowed money from the restaurant owner, he made phone calls and emails; he requested his friends and family members to lend him money in order to get by for the next couple of weeks. Two friends he contacted got back to him immediately and told him that they’d wire emergency funds to his bank account. He also spoke with his mother and she told him that she’d lend him some money. Though he had to pay back a fair amount to them in the coming months, he was greatly relieved. The worst was over.
Within a week, he received money from his friends and family. Taking that, he went back to the restaurant and paid back what he owed. The following week, he finally got in touch with his new employer and received the relocation fee. Though he needed to pay back all in the coming months, the situation was looking better and better every passing day.
8. Bitter Lessons To Be Learned
’What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’ was the old saying that he wanted to tell himself but he had to realize that what happened wasn’t even a crisis. Retrospectively speaking, it was nothing but a mismanagement of his personal finance. He wasn’t starving to death, nor was he dying from a fatal disease. It was just a minor incident and he overreacted.
There was yet another difficult lesson he had to learn. He could not always return favors. In this case, there were physical difficulties of returning the favor such as the limited financial source, the loss of communication between his savior and him and the embarrassment he felt. The last seemed rather silly, but this could often become the obstacle that he would return the favor.
Though he went back to the restaurant a couple of times shortly after he paid back his loan, he hesitated to go back there after that. Before he realized, he was about to move onto the next stage of his life and was about to leave the big city. He never went back there after he left the city. Years passed by, but he still had not returned the favor. Perhaps, the restaurant owner did not remember the event any longer. Perhaps, it was enough that he paid back whatever he borrowed. But was it enough? He still wondered about it to this day.
9. Faith Restored Or He Was Cursed?
After agriculture began twelve thousand years ago, ancient civilizations were founded around the world. In order to increase productivity and advance civilizations, cities were formed. The vast majority of the population lived in those cities, and this remains to be the case to date. It took a very long time to provide clean water to city residents though, and the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of cities in today’s world do not provide clean water. Advancement of civilizations eventually introduced automations and technologies to dramatically increase productivity, but they created new problems such as air pollution and soil contamination. Only a selected number of cities manage these problems today. Basically, what is happening around the world is that the vast majority of the population live with numerous basic problems. Naturally, their livelihoods do not have stability. Life becomes about serving yourself regardless of others’ pain and suffering; in other words, they live in the cannibalism society.
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Perhaps, French Revolution marked the beginning of the end of monarchies in Europe. Perhaps, in that part of the world, people started breaking away from the cannibalism society. The strong exploited and oppressed the weak. To lie was to gain and to lie more was to gain more. To cheat was to obtain a high social status and to cheat more was to obtain an even higher social status. To steal was to become rich and to steal more was to become even richer. Such was the cannibalism society and there was a sign that people desired to change that primitive society in Paris in the late eighteen century. But, as he traveled and saw what was happening around the world, he realized that the world was by and large the cannibalism society. At the age of sixteen, a young girl in the cannibalism society might not know how to read a book, but she knew how to lie. At the age of twenty, a young man might not understand words such as ‘punctuality’, ‘responsibility’, ‘honestly’ and ‘loyalty’, but he knew how to cheat and how to steal. The world was by and large still in this tragic figure.
As years passed, he had a more pessimistic view of the world. What they called, ‘Real World’, the world in which he explored as he entered his adulthood was not as rosy as he imagined. The big city was part of the post French Revolution world, so to speak, and this was actually a tiny part of the world; the rest of the world looked like pre-French Revolution or a lot worse. He often felt that hard work did not necessarily pay off; in fact, he felt that the world was an unfair place by and large. As he traveled and encountered different cultures, he came to conclude that the world was such a doomed place. The world was filled with cheats, liars, thieves and bastards. He believed that there were only two types of life; either to stay honest and let others cheat on him or to become one of the biggest cheat liar thief bastards and become successful, at least financially. Such was his worldview. However, every time he felt despair or met another cheat, liar, thief or bastard, he recalled the kindness received from the stranger. He disliked the idea of being moral and ethical, for too many people defined it conveniently case by case, and because of that, he did not find any relevance; however, he always rejected to become one of them because at least one decent act took place in front of his eyes. But such was the curse; the kindness he received from an honest restaurant owner only made him indecisive, weak and powerless in the world of cannibalism.